How to choose a home inspector

How to select a home inspector

What basis should I use to choose a home inspector?

Make sure your home inspector meets the requirements of all laws and regulations in your state or province.
Use our Find A Home Inspector to see the current laws and regulations for your state or province.

Your home inspector should have proper training or experience.

Ask if the inspector is licensed, or a member of a professional home inspection organization.
If your state or province does not require a license for home inspectors, it is important that the home inspector belongs to an association and abide by a set of standard practices and code of ethics that require professionalism in the industry.

Inspector Qualification: Put in your zip code to see inspectors and their qualifications. Make sure the inspector is either state licensed and/or belongs to a state or national association that has an established standards of practice (ASHI SOP, InterNACHI SOP, NAHI SOPCAHPI SOP) and similar state or province level organizations require their members to adhere to strict standards of practice and continuing education.

Being true that most inspection companies are one man operations, the best inspectors usually charge more than their local competitiors (think about it). Paying more for a better inspector now usually ends up costing less later!

Make sure they use HomeGauge Services so you can view a detailed report with pictures online AND be able to easily send it to all parties involved. Don’t settle for anything less!

Ask to see a sample home inspection report?
Request a copy of a sample report to make sure it is detailed and easily understood. If you cannot understand the report or if you lose interest in reading the ton of extra, useless information some reports contain you probably will not read your own report and maybe miss important information.

Who is the cheapest? Inspectors all look at the same things right?
Every inspector is different and comes with strong points and weak points. You may save $50 by choosing a cheaper inspector and he could miss $1,000 in problems. Usually, the best inspectors are not the cheapest. If you want to save money, possibly thousands, then don’t choose the cheapest inspector.

Some offer to give me a big book of general information that is included in the home inspection?
What you are after is a thorough home inspection with content about your home, not bulk or info that may not even apply to your home. There are many sources for general information such as "Ortho’s Home Encyclopedia" that you can pick up at any home improvement store. Also there are many online "how to" or "do it yourself (diy)" websites. Choose a home inspector based on his ability. Substance should be measured in quality of content, not weight.